Michael Buscher, head of the Geography and Map Collections Management team, with participants in the division's Special Project: Rod Pollack, Kristi Jensen, Christopher Thiry, Carolyn Kadri and Christopher Mixon. Robert Morris, technical information specialist in Geography and Map, stands at far right. - Gary Fitzpatrick
This summer the Library celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Geography and Map Division Special Project by hosting five interns from July 9 through Aug. 10.
Kristi Jensen, Carolyn Kadri, Christopher Mixon, Rod Pollock and Christopher Thiry came from universities across the country with the same passion for geography.
"We are very proud that this program has existed for 50 years, said John Hébert, chief of the Geography and Map Division. "This particular group was the largest we have had in recent years, and they were a very fine crew."
The program was developed out of a need to process the thousands of maps that the Geography and Map Division began receiving from federal libraries and mapping agencies after the end of World War II. At that time, with a staff of only 17, the division was not able to process the maps at their accelerated rate of acquisition.
In April 1951, former division chief Arch C. Gerlach received permission to hire temporary summer employees, establishing what was then called the Summer Map Processing Project. Because funds were limited, Mr. Gerlach persuaded some institutions to sponsor participants at their own expense, in exchange for the privilege of selecting duplicates for their own map collection. Under this arrangement, the Library, as well as participating institutions, benefit from the program.
The map selection component of the program remains in effect today. To date, the Library has provided more than 2 million duplicate maps and atlases to 438 participants from 135 colleges and universities from across the country. According to current intern Christopher Thiry, being allowed to select duplicate maps for the participating institution is "like putting a kid in a candy store."
At the time the summer program began, it was estimated that the Geography and Map division had accumulated a backlog of between 750,000 and 1 million charts and maps that were in need of processing. Therefore, the main assignment for summer workers was to assist the full-time employees in sorting, cataloging, geographically arranging and filing the backlog.
Current Library staff who began their association with the Library through the special project include (from left) Allen Wayner, Peter Stark, Ronald Grim, Kathryn Engstrom, Juan-Carlos Vega and Richard Fox (not pictured: James Flatness). All are Geography and Map staff except Mr. Wayner and Mr. Stark, who work in the Anglo-American Acquistions Division. - Gary Fitzpatrick
When the first phase of the project was completed in 1961, the division continued to recruit summer interns for a variety of assignments. With the development of MARC Map, a cataloging tool, in the 1970s, assignments involved using the computer as a tool for organizing maps and collections online.
Robert Morris, a technical information specialist, has worked closely with the interns since he joined the Geography and Map Division 14 years ago. He has found each group to be enthusiastic about having the opportunity to work at the Library of Congress.
"It's a lot of fun to work with the interns," he said. "Through the program, we gain exposure to the needs of university map collections across the country."
This year's group of interns was given a wide range of assignments. Kristi Jensen, an earth sciences librarian at Pennsylvania State University, was given two tasks. One assignment involved creating a database for a recently acquired collection of road maps (see story on page 194). The database, which will eventually be accessible to the public through the Library's Web site, will enable users to search for maps by year, title or geographic area. Her second assignment was to research and compile a list of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Web sites, which will be used as a Web resource to link people to all of the sites.
Carolyn Kadri, a map cataloger at the University of Texas at Arlington, and Christopher Mixon, a library assistant for the map collection at Auburn University, worked together to create a database for the Geography and Map pamphlet file.
"I had a great project to work on, but I would have come to mop floors for the chance to work in the Library's Geography and Map Division," said Mr. Mixon.
Rod Pollock, a special formats cataloger at the University of Georgia, worked with the National Digital Library to catalog digital images of Civil War maps. His main assignment was to edit bibliographic information, including a description classification and subject analysis for each map. The Civil War map records he worked on will eventually be available online.
Christopher Thiry has been a map librarian at the Colorado School of Mines for six years, where he has organized and maintained more than 191,000 maps. While at the Library, he processed some of the approximately 300,000 map sheets that the Geography and Map Division recently received from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
The process of recruiting interns has evolved throughout the years. In the past, the division sent letters about the program to more than 150 colleges and universities across the country. This year, the division publicized the program on the Internet, through several geography-related listservs that map librarians across the country monitor.
In a number of cases, temporary recruitment through the Special Project has led to permanent employment at the Library. There are currently seven permanent employees who began their association with the Library through the Special Project.
Division Chief Hébert noted other benefits of the Geography and Map Division Special Project. "Through the program, the Library has furthered the development of map collections at academic institutions throughout the U.S. The program cements the relationship between the Library and the nation's map libraries."
